Restraining device for toilet seat covers



June 26, 1951 5. J. PALMIERI RESTRAINING DEVICE FOR TOILET SEAT COVERS Filed April 18, 1949 j W EN TOR.

Patented June 26, 1951 RESTRAINING DEVICE FOR TOILET SEAT COVERS Salvatore J. Palmieri, Syracuse, N. Y.

Application April 18, 1949, Serial No. 88,074

2 Claims.

The present invention relates to restraining devices for toilet seat covers, and more especially, to a new and improved restraining harness which may be applied to toilets or water closets for holding the usual seat cover in a closed position.

It has been found that in many homes where there are young children, considerable difiiculty is oftentimes experienced in preventing the children from playing in the water normally retained in the toilet bowl. Until children have attained suflicient maturity of judgment or habit to refrain from such practices, it is most difficult and sometimes impossible to restrain the children from so attractive, though unsanitary, a pastime as is presented by such a conveniently available household accessory, despite all teachings of good habits, admonitions and even physical punishment.

In addition, children inherently seem to develop a fondness for depositing all sorts of articles,

sometimes of great value, in the toilet bowl, to

the great chagrin and detriment of their parents or other elders, not to mention the inconvenience and expense of clearing the resulting obstructions from the plumbing lines and waste outlets.

With these problems in view, which are very real and practical problems which I can fully confirm on the basis of actual experience, I have devised a simple and inexpensive restraining device which can be easily and quickly applied to a toilet or water closet of any conventional type, for the purpose of holding the usual seat cover closed when not in use, so as to prevent access to the interior of the toilet bowl.

In carrying out the foregoing objective, the restraining device is so constructed and arranged as to be incapable of being removed or released by a young child, after it has been applied or attached to hold down the seat cover, yet it can be quickly and easily removed or released by an older person when it is necessary or desirable to raise the seat cover, or otherwise to make the toilet ready for use.

Besides constituting a deterrent to children, my invention may be'employed with equal ease and advantage as a means for temporarily preventing or Warning against use of toilets or water closets which are out of order or undergoing repair, or for any purpose are not to be used.

More specifically stated, it ,is a further object of my invention to provide a toilet seat cover hold-down which preferably has the form of a harness-like appliance made of leather or other appropriate flexible material, said harness including a separable band or strap adapted to exte- 2 riorly encircle the toilet bowl near the floor and being preferably adjustable to fit bowls of different sizes and/or shapes, and another strap or straps secured at one end to the bowl encircling strap and being adapted to extend upwardly therefrom at the front of the bowl, and thence across the top of the toilet seat cover, when the latter is closed, from the front edge of the seat cover to the back edge thereof, and having means for adjustably and releasably engaging the usual hinge pin or bar. at the rear edge of the seat cover to maintain the seat cover-engaging strap in a position preventing raising of the seat cover.

Other and further objects and advantages of the invention will be hereinafter described and the novel features thereof defined in the append ed claims.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a view in side elevation of a conventional toilet or water closet having the usual hinged seat and seat cover, and showing my new restraining device or harness applied thereto so as to prevent raising or opening of the seat cover;

Figure 2 is a view in top plan; and

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the restraining device or harness per se, showing the fastenings thereof released, as required for application of the harness to or removal thereof from the toilet or water closet.

Like reference characters designate corresponding parts in the several figures of the drawing, wherein I generally denotes a conventional toilet or water closet having the usual bowl 2 in which some water is customarily retained after each flushing, the toilet bowl being connected in the usual manner by an intake pipe or connection 3 to a source of water supply (not shown), and also being connected to the usual waste line (not shown) of the plumbing system.- Mountedon the upper end of the toilet bowl 2 is the usual toilet seat 4 and seat cover 5, both the seat and seat cover being pivotally connected by a common hinge pin 6, located at the rear thereof and carried by brackets l, I which are attached to the rear edge of the bowl 2. Thus, the seat cover 5 and/or the seat are free to be raised or lowered, as desired, by swinging the sameabout the axis of the hinge pin or bar 6.- In Figures 1 and 2 of the drawing, both the seat 4 and the seat cover 5 are in their lowered position, with the seat cover resting upon the seat and closing the toilet against access to the interior of the toilet bowl 2.

In order to prevent raising of the seat cover 5 by children in the act of play, or otherwise by anyone during a period when the toilet may be out of order or undergoing repair, I have provided a. simple and efiective restraining device which preferably has the form of a harness-like appliance as more particularly shown in Figure 3 of the drawing. The device or harness may be made of leather or other appropriate material of sufficient strength and flexibility to serve the purpose and consistent with minimum expense. As more particularly illustrated in Figure 3, the harness includes a separable band or strap designated 8 which is adapted to exteriorly encircle the toilet bowl 2 near the floor on which the bowl is supported, the strap being preferably adjustable to fit bowls of different sizes and/or shapes, as permitted by the provision of a buckle S on one end of the strap for adjustable engagement with a series of apertures 1:5 the other end of the strap. Of course, any other suitable adjustable and releasable fastening may be employed by way of substitution for the buckle connection of the opposite ends of the strap 8.

At an intermediate point or the strap 3, and near the front side of the strap when applied about the toilet bowl '2, as shown in Figure 1, one or more other straps, preferably two straps H, H are suitably connected or anchored to the strap '8, as by means of rivets 52 or other fastenings. When the two straps ll, ii are employed, they are preferably spaced apart so as to lie at opposite sides of the usual protrusion 2a at the front of the toilet bowl 2, andab'ove the protrusion 2a,'the straps H, H are interconnected by a cross strap is which is riveted by rivets M or otherwise suitably'secured at its opposite ends to the respective straps H, H. The cross strap 13 thus prevents the straps H, H from unduly spreading apart. At their upper ends, the straps H, II are brought together and riveted by rivets 15 or otherwise suitably secured to a single strap 18 which continues substantially beyond the upper ends of the straps H, H for a distance sufficient to permit the strap it to be adjustably and releasably engaged with the hinge pin or bar 8 at the rear of the toilet. Such engagement and connection may be attained by looping the strap l3 about the hinge pin or bar t and selectively engaging the apertures H in the free end of the strap hi with a buckle it which is anchored by the rivets at the juncture of the straps H, H and i6. The buckle connection is sufficiently difficult for a young child to operate as to insure against release of the harness after it has been applied to the toilet and secured in the manner illustrated in Figures 1 and 2, yet it may be easily and quickly released by an older person when this is desired for purposes of permitting raising of the toilet seat cover 5.

The use of the restraining device or harness will be obvious from the foregoing, and it will be understood that when the harness has been applied to the toilet and secured in the manner illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 of the drawing, the straps II, II and it are drawn up tightly at the front of the toilet bowl and over the upper face of the toilet seat cover 5 so that it is impossible to raise the toilet seat cover. To release the seat cover and permit it to be raised at will, it is only necessary to disengage the buckle connection [8 at the rear of the harness, while leaving the harness attached about the toilet bowl 2 by means of the strap 8 during use of the toilet, after which the seat cover 5 may again be closed and the harness restored to the position shown in Figures 1 and 2 to hold down the seat cover, However, the harness can be quickly and completely removed from the toilet, when desired, by releasing both the buckle connections I Band 9.

While the specific details have been herein shown .and described, my invention is not confined thereto as changes and alterations may be made without departing from the spirit thereof as de fined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A restraining device of the class described for holding down toilet seat covers which are h'ingedly mounted by a hinge pin on a toilet bowl, comprising :an anchor strap having cooperative fastening means at its opposite ends for adjustably securing the same in encirclement about the toilet bowl, a pair of straps connected at one end to the anchor strap at laterally spaced points near the front of the toilet bowl and adapted to be extended upwardly therefrom and across the upper face of the toilet seat cover when the latter is closed, said laterally spaced straps having their free ends joined to one end of a single strap, and said single strap having detachable cooperative means for forming an anchoring loop about the seat cover hinge pin to releasably secure the spaced straps and the single strap in seat coverrestraining position.

2. A restraining device of the class described for holding down toilet seat covers which are hingedly mounted by a hinge pin on a toilet bowl, comprising an anchor strap having cooperative fastening means at its opposite ends for adjustably securing the same in encirclement about the toilet bowl near the base thereof, a pair of straps connected at one end to the anchor strap at laterally spaced points and adapted to straddle the toilet bowl near the front thereof, said laterally spaced straps being of such length as to extend upwardly from the anchor strap around the forward edge of the seat cover and across the upper face of the seat cover when the latter is closed, a cross strap interconnecting the laterally spaced straps across the front of the toilet bowl near the upper end of the latter below the seat cover, said laterally spaced straps having their free ends joined to one end of a single strap, and said single strap having detachable cooperative means for forming an anchoring loop about the seat cover hinge pin to releasably secure the laterally spaced straps and the single strap in seat cover-restraining position.

SALVATORE J, PALMIERI.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 735,927 Woodruif Aug. 11,1903 7 824,507 Robinson June 26, 1906 1,183,892 McTague May 23, 1916 1,793,815 McCann Feb. 24, 1931 2,404,124 Des Roches July 16, 1946 

